Why Chile?
If you know me or have followed my travel blog, it will not be a surprise that this trip was connected with Habitat for Humanity. This is the third South American country to which I have lead Habitat for Humanity teams (Bolivia and Argentina are the other countries) in the past two years.
A bit about Chile
For some time, I have been attracted to this long, skinny country along the west coast of South America that stretches 4,300 km from north to south and rarely exceeds 200 km in width. It is bordered in the north by Peru, in the east by Bolivia and Argentina, and by the Pacific Ocean on the west. It has a population of about 18 million with a very large majority living in urban areas. The capital city of Santiago has a population of about 6 million and is by far the largest city.
It's geographical location and shape mean Chile is diverse in climate and landscape from the driest desert in the world (Atacama) in the north to massive glacier fields in the south and the Andes mountains in the east. The elevation changes dramatically from sea level in the coastal areas to peaks of over 6,000 metres in the Andes.
Before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the Inca ruled northern Chile while the Mapuche (indigenous nation) inhabited central and southern Chile. Chile declared its independence in 1810, but did not achieve a decisive victory over the Spanish until 1818. Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-83), taking control of what are now its northern regions.
If you know me or have followed my travel blog, it will not be a surprise that this trip was connected with Habitat for Humanity. This is the third South American country to which I have lead Habitat for Humanity teams (Bolivia and Argentina are the other countries) in the past two years.
A bit about Chile
For some time, I have been attracted to this long, skinny country along the west coast of South America that stretches 4,300 km from north to south and rarely exceeds 200 km in width. It is bordered in the north by Peru, in the east by Bolivia and Argentina, and by the Pacific Ocean on the west. It has a population of about 18 million with a very large majority living in urban areas. The capital city of Santiago has a population of about 6 million and is by far the largest city.
It's geographical location and shape mean Chile is diverse in climate and landscape from the driest desert in the world (Atacama) in the north to massive glacier fields in the south and the Andes mountains in the east. The elevation changes dramatically from sea level in the coastal areas to peaks of over 6,000 metres in the Andes.
Before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the Inca ruled northern Chile while the Mapuche (indigenous nation) inhabited central and southern Chile. Chile declared its independence in 1810, but did not achieve a decisive victory over the Spanish until 1818. Chile defeated Peru and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific (1879-83), taking control of what are now its northern regions.
Much later in its history, the
government of Salvador Allende was overthrown in the 1973 military coup led by
Augusto Pinochet, who ruled until an elected president was inaugurated in 1990. The last 40 years of the country's history, especially the Allende-Pinochet era, has had a dramatic impact on the people of Chile as well as its economy and way of life. Significant international attention was focused on Chile over this 40-year period because of the political instability and extreme human rights matters violations.
While Chile has experienced steady economic growth under a democratic
government since 1990, there is great income disparity and it is estimated
that about 2.5 million people live below the poverty line (unable to afford the
cost of twice-monthly groceries). This economic disparity is an important factor in the country having housing challenges. Amid these economic challenges, Chile is well known for its high quality wines and agricultural products that are exported widely and also for it natural resources such as copper.
Habitat for Humanity Chile
Habitat has been using various approaches in a number of Chilean communities since 2001 to address housing shortages and deficiencies. These efforts have been directed at responding to the devastating impacts from natural disasters such as the massive earthquake and tsunami in February 2010. Other programs are targeted at providing improved housing conditions for people facing challenging health problems. To date, Habitat Chile had provided housing support to more than 1,000 Chilean families.
Our Projects
My team of nine people from different parts of Canada was divided into two groups to undertake separate projects in different neighbourhoods of Santiago. My group of five worked on two projects under a program called "Our Children Return Home" that contributes to improving the living conditions of children with a serious health problem. The other part of the team worked on a similar program for seniors. (In this blog, I will only speak about the projects in which I was directly involved.)
My group spent six of eight work days at one site and completed all the work there except for a couple of minor things that were the responsibility of the home owner to complete. When arriving at the site on day one, our first activity was to meet the family over what I will describe as a substantial "second breakfast." This was when we were introduced to the young woman who would be the owner of the new house. The house was being built on the back of the lot where she has been living with her family in a small house with crowded conditions. She is in the treatment and recovery stage of cancer, so greatly needs the improved living conditions.
After a warm welcome, we got to work. The foundation (concrete slab) and prefabricated exterior walls were waiting for us to install. Over the next six days, we completed the following tasks:
- Erected the exterior walls and attached them to the foundation
- Installed rigid insulation on the interior walls and ceiling
- Installed the ceiling framework
- Installed drywall on all the walls and ceiling; taped and "mudded" the drywall seams; sanded the walls/ceiling and painted all of the interior
- Built and installed the roof trusses
- Installed the roofing
- Installed and painted the exterior siding
- Installed the electrical wiring
- Installed the windows (two) and entrance door
- Painted trim/baseboards
I must point out that we were supported in our efforts by a local Habitat coordinator, two Habitat carpenters (called maestros), our translator and, for parts of a couple of days, the father of the young woman. We worked really well as a team and kept busy over all six days. After we finished our work, the only thing left to do before the young woman could move in was to install the flooring and baseboard trim. I am very pleased to be able to say that this has been done and she is now living in the house.
Every day, we were treated to a tasty home-cooked lunch of substantial portions. Barbequed chicken and Chorizo sausages on our last day were the big food hit of the six days. With the support of the translator, we learned more about each family member when they individually shared a bit about themselves at lunch on a day-to-day basis. Our hard work was accompanied by a very positive atmosphere, laughter, humour and many smiles.
The highlight of this project came on our last day when there was a celebration to hand over the keys to the house to the new owner and she cut the ribbon across the entrance door. In the days leading up to this, it was so heartwarming and gratifying to watch he step into her new home in the latter part of each day and look around with what seemed to be a sense of wonderment that she would soon be living there. I'll let some photos tell the rest of this story.
We moved to a different neighbourhood for our second project. For this project, we undertook work that would prepare the site for an addition to an existing house. The addition was to be improve the living conditions of an 8-year old boy with cancer.
Our tasks involved a lot of digging and shoveling for pouring of the foundation, finishing the exterior wall panels, building roof trusses, moving large bags of cement mix, and mixing cement and moving it by wheelbarrow. It was more demanding physically than the work at the first site, but we were up to the challenge. Our crew was basically the same as at the first site, except for one of the older sons of the mother helping us on one day. Our lunches were prepared on site by the boy's mother or grandmother and, once again, we certainly has plenty of good food.
We accomplished a great deal over our eights days of building and I am pleased to say that we upheld the reputation of Canadian Global Village teams as working hard and getting much done.
Our tasks involved a lot of digging and shoveling for pouring of the foundation, finishing the exterior wall panels, building roof trusses, moving large bags of cement mix, and mixing cement and moving it by wheelbarrow. It was more demanding physically than the work at the first site, but we were up to the challenge. Our crew was basically the same as at the first site, except for one of the older sons of the mother helping us on one day. Our lunches were prepared on site by the boy's mother or grandmother and, once again, we certainly has plenty of good food.
We accomplished a great deal over our eights days of building and I am pleased to say that we upheld the reputation of Canadian Global Village teams as working hard and getting much done.
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